Sekyra Group now has a number of projects in Prague. How many people will live in the new neighborhoods?
The most important for us at the moment are three major projects – the future Prague districts of Smíchov City, Rohan City and Žižkov City. At the same time, each of them is currently one of the largest development projects in the Czech Republic. Eleven thousand people should live or work on Rohanský ostrov in the future, more than 12 thousand people in Smíchov and Žižkov City, which will mainly be about housing, will offer three thousand flats.

What about prices? How much do apartments cost?
The stages under construction already have their future owners. We are still preparing another. However, just to give you an idea, this week we launched a new residential project in the locality of Prague 11 at the Opatov metro station. We have also been dealing with this area for a long time, there are small flats 1 + kk to 3 + kk in a ratio of 130 thousand crowns per square meter.

How is the price of the apartment calculated? What must it contain in order to pay off for all parties and not just the developer, for example?
The largest item is the cost and price of the land, project preparation or financial costs will also play a role, as well as contributions to city districts for infrastructure and public facilities. Unfortunately, the price of all inputs is increasing, the constructions are technically and technologically more complicated. Unfortunately, the preparation process in the current legislative framework is long and inefficient, which is also increased by internal overheads. Just to give you an idea, for each of the projects I mentioned, such preparation took more than ten years. Each of these is then reflected in the final price, but at the same time it is completely crazy when you realize how long you have been planning and preparing to build a development project here.

Is there a possible contract on price or method of payment?
Unfortunately, the basic price cannot be negotiated, but it is possible to get a discount in connection with a faster repayment calendar.

Who buys apartments – are they investors or the people who will live in them themselves?
We will always find out what intentions he has to buy with the apartment – whether he will live in it alone or whether he will want to rent it and be an investment as an old age or part of a business. However, based on information from clients in the case of flat sales on Rohan Island or Smíchov, we assume that people bought sixty to seventy flats directly for themselves or in an intergenerational family.

Is it a trend reversal? I’d guess a different relationship.
It is a significant change in the trend compared to the time before the covid, I think it is healthy for the development of these newly emerging localities. A permanent community will be created here, which will significantly influence the development of these neighborhoods. People also demand larger apartments. Demand for housing has increased due to the uncertainty caused by the covid and the consequent rising inflation – people are protecting their savings from depreciation thanks to real estate investments.

A lot of new development is being addressed now in relation to the historical center of Prague. How are parking handled here and what do they expect the buyer from in the fourth place?
Transport is one of the most complicated topics in the permitting process and it is also a problem for all major cities. On the other hand, it is an exact science, the solution of the project must be substantiated by a complicated calculation and the impact on the environment by many analyzes. Prague building regulations significantly reduced the number of parking spaces in projects, especially in office ones.

why?
However, it is already so common in office buildings that employees share parking spaces and simply do not drive to work every day. Of course, there is a minimum of parking in the streets for visitors. Parking is located underground, instead of cars we want quality public spaces.

Sekyra Group, together with the Institute of Planning and Development of the Capital City of Prague, has so far made a unique participatory project for the Smíchov City district. What do people want in neighborhoods? Let’s leave the apartments aside.
Most often they wanted parks, a school, health care, they supported housing construction, less so buildings – but in the central parts of cities they fulfill a significant barrier function between housing and disrupt roads where housing cannot be located. People also like the mix of shops and services on the ground floor of the buildings, just hiking in the streets throughout the day, which we want to achieve with the greatest possible diversity of functions in the area. We are definitely trying to respect the results of the participatory project. Participation is not over, we are still gaining new impulses.

Can you give an example?
Last time, at the initiative of Prague 5, we included accommodation for students in the project in Smíchov.

One more thing is being addressed in connection with Smíchov. A giant water reservoir from the 1990s is stored underground. Water flows here from the surrounding hills. This underground construction complicates the construction of, for example, Radlické radialy. How is it possible that it does not complicate the construction of the Smíchov City district?
This is not directly related to our project, the protection zone of the water source starts at its southern edge. I believe that the developer on whose land the waterworks is located and the capital city of Prague will agree on its ownership and the method of its protection, including measures in the protection zone.

An agreement was recently reached and you will be building in Dejvice near Kulaťák. Surely there will be a lot of questions about that. What exactly will arise in the place?
I believe it will be an urban project. Its appearance is greatly influenced by the historical Engel’s regulation from the 1930s, according to which the entire surrounding district was founded. The project is interesting for its direct connection to the metro vestibule and the university campus, and the ICT will build a new rectory on part of the land. We are cooperating on the project with partners, the companies Penta and Kaprain, and I believe that we will benefit from the experience we have from the implementation of other major city-wide projects. First of all, therefore, in cooperation with the city district of Prague 6 and the capital city of Prague, we must formulate an assignment for an international architectural competition. Of course, we also want to give space to the public.